Bonds
by Shaodic
Summary: [AU] What if Itachi didn't only spare Sasuke? Orphaned and abandoned at birth for unexplained reasons, Masako Uchiha cherishes every bond he gets. With a huge untapped latent potential and the help of a certain loud-mouthed blond, he faces his greatest challenge yet: saving his only surviving family member from his own hatred.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Naruto franchise. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot.

* * *

"You little brat!"

Most passersby took no heed to the scene that was unfolding at the local food market. This occurrence happened so often, that it became regarded as the norm. Others took on an amused demeanor as they watched once again as the owner of the store tried to futilely catch up to a jet-black blur. He was no match for the blur however, as he quickly dropped his hands to his knees and panted heavily. The blur stopped running and turned around, sticking his tongue out and giving the shopkeeper a toothy grin before disappearing.

"You'll have to try harder than that if you want to catch me, ojisan!"

"I'll get that damned brat next time! I swear I'm going to teach him a lesson next time he steps foot near my store." He muttered in annoyance between heavy pants. Everyone knew though that secretly the old man took quite a bit of a liking to the dark-haired blur in question. The old man, a veteran of the Second Great Shinobi War, has easily kicked the ass of anyone who dared to steal from his store before. However, with the dark-haired blur, it was different.

The dark-haired blur in question was a young, pale, scrawny boy. His clothes, if you could even call them clothes, were torn and covered in so much dirt that the original black color of them was unrecognizable, becoming a dark brown color. His stomach sank in and his ribs protruded out of his chest. He was orphaned at birth without even a clue of his origins besides being delivered to the orphanage by the head of the Uchiha clan. The Uchihas however, didn't believe that someone like that could come from their clan, which was touted as the strongest in Konoha, and thus he was shunned by his own people. He didn't belong with the children at the orphanage either, often having the scraps that they were given as meals stolen from him by the older kids.

Despite his goofy act, the shopkeeper saw the loneliness present in the young boy's eyes in the brief moments that he saw him.

'No child should ever have to go through such loneliness, especially one as young as him.' He thought as a somber expression quickly spread across his facial features before reverting back. 'I've made up my mind on this.'

A few days past until the inevitable time of the young boy's return to the market. The shopkeeper knew the drill at this point. The young boy would sneak around the store until he was certain nobody was watching him, and then would take some food off the shelf and make a run for it. The shopkeeper let the raven-haired boy think that nobody was watching him, when in reality he kept a close eye on him the entire time. He was a highly skilled ex-shinobi after all. Just like predicted he would, the raven-haired child grabbed two loaves of bread off the shelf and made a mad dash out of the market. This time however the shopkeeper didn't chase after him, to the surprise of the young boy.

The dark-haired slowed down, confident that the shopkeeper wasn't coming after him this time. If he did, he would just outrun him once again. He gave one last glance back to where the shopkeeper was standing. Keyword: was. He suddenly felt like he bumped into a brick wall. He turned his head forward and looked up to meet the gaze of the owner of the store. Scared that the shopkeeper would punish him for stealing, he did what any other child his age would do when they are in trouble: cry.

"I'm not going to punish you, I just want to have a small chat." He said with a much kinder expression on his face. The young boy dried his eyes and agreed, seeing that it was his only option. The shopkeeper marched him back to the store and pulled up a small wooden stool for the raven-haired boy to sit on.

"Kid, didn't your parents ever teach you that stealing is a crime?"

"I... don't have any parents" The ever present smile on the young boy's face suddenly vanished as deep loneliness flashed in eyes.

"Then how about your other relatives? Aunt, Uncle, Brother, Sister, Grandparents?"

"I don't have any either. Or they just don't want me."

"Who do you live with then?" The shopkeeper for the first time observed him up-close, taking notice of the terrible condition of the rags he was wearing, as well as how thin he was.

"I live at the orphanage."

"They must feed you there, don't they?" Looking at the condition that the boy was in, he felt his anger bubbling towards how the orphanage treats the children who live there.

"They don't give us food. And when they do..." tears started forming in the raven-haired boy's eyes as he recalled how he was treated by the other children there and the pain in his stomach. "The other children...the other children always take mine. I don't wanna take food from you but I'm so hungry..."

The shopkeeper empathized the feeling of slowly starving to death. The torturous pain alone was unbearable for most adults, let alone a child barely who looks younger than five. He took his arm and put it around the kid's shoulder and wore a kinder demeanor on his face.

"It'll be okay. From now on, I'll give some food everyday so you don't have to steal it."

"R-really?" The young boy looked at the shopkeeper in shock. No one has ever shown even a little bit of kindness to him before.

"Of course. You look like you need to put on a few pounds anyways!" He lightly chuckled. Tears started filling the raven-haired boy's eyes, and suddenly the floodgates opened up. Two rivers flowed down his face as he began trying to form a sentence, hiccuping after every word.

"Ari-arigato go-gozaimasu!" The young raven-haired boy squeaked out between tears.

"Dry those tears kid, you're hungry aren't you? I know something that will go great with those loaves of bread! Wait right here." He went to the backroom and took out some ham from the fridge. He then picked up the loaves of bread and cut them in half, placing the meat between the two halves.

"Here, try this." He held out the sandwich to the raven-haired boy. The young boy immediately began devouring it.

"That was amazing! It tastes nothing like the food I get at the orphanage!" The raven-haired boy said with his mouth full was on cloud nine, for the first time in his life feeling satisfied with what he ate. The old man laughed in amusement at the jubilant expression on the raven-haired boy's face.

"I haven't had a laugh like that in quite a while. What's your name, kid?" The dark-haired boy stopped eating his sandwich and swallowed.

"My name is Masako... Masako Uchiha." He looked at his feet, prepared for the scorn or the laughter that always followed when he told people his name. No one believed that someone like him could belong to the Uchiha clan. They thought that he was just a good-for-nothing child who was just trying to leech off the Uchiha's famous name to get what he wanted. Or they just laughed in his face and brushed him off. He was shocked when he didn't hear any laughter or disgust directed towards him.

"The Uchiha, huh? Go figure." He thought aloud to himself. He isn't surprised that such a stuck-up clan would abandon someone who they thought were too weak to be a part of their clan. No, what makes him wonder is why a child this young was an orphan in the first place. What happened to his parents?

"Hey Ojiisan, how did you that thing where you disappeared earlier? That was so cool! Can you teach me how to do it?" The shopkeeper was snapped out of his thoughts and was met with stars in Masako's eyes.

"That was a **Shunshin no Jutsu.** It is a skill that you learn when you are a shinobi." The stars in the raven-haired boy's eyes shone even brighter.

"You were a shinobi, Ojiisan?! You're so cool!" The shopkeeper blushed from the praise.

"Of course. I was a shinobi for over 30 years before I retired!" Masako's demeanor suddenly filled with determination.

"Ojiisan, I've always wanted to be a shinobi. They are cool and strong and people treat them better. And also they get to wear those awesome shiny things on their foreheads! Can you train me please?!"

'I must admit, this kid's got spunk, asking me to train him to become a shinobi. He's not ready yet to start training, but maybe in a few years I might think about it. If I'm still alive by then that is!' The shopkeeper continued contemplating in his mind as Masako was assaulting him with a barrage of every variation of "please" out there.

"Say what gaki, I'll think about it. Right now however, you're too young and not in good enough shape to start. So first, think about eating right and getting healthier, then we'll talk about shinobi training."

'Okay! If that means you'll train me I'll do it!" He then suddenly became quiet and appeared to be deep in thought.

"What's up gaki?"

"Ojiisan, what is eating right?" A giant sweat drop formed on the shopkeeper's forehead.

'This is going to be a long road. Just what have I gotten myself into this time?'

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 **A/N:** Please leave a review with any feedback and criticism. It is greatly appreciated!

 **Jutsu List:**

 **Shunshin no Jutsu** **:** Body-flicker technique


	2. Chapter 2

***Disclaimer*** : I do not own the Naruto franchise. If I did Madara would have been the final villain. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot.

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 _'It's been two years since Jii-san said he would train me,'_ Masako thought impatiently as he made his way to the Old Man's store, _'I want to be a shinobi already!'_

He burst through door and heard a small ring of a bell. It was a new addition to the shop. The Old Man said it would help more to prevent theft or something like that.

"Hey Jii-san! Are you going to train me to be a shinobi today?!"

"Quiet down gaki, you're going to give me an aneurysm," the Old Man emerged from the back, holding his palm to his forehead. "You know what, why not?"

"Really?!" Masako jumped over the counter and looked at the Shopkeeper with stars in his eyes.

"Yes really, but only after your shift. Now do you mind giving me some space?" he said as he lightly pushed the raven-haired boy away from him. "Now go eat your breakfast, your shift starts in twenty minutes."

After taking a lap around the store in excitement, Masako went into the backroom to get his food. He wasn't given the food for free by the Shopkeeper. After all, the Shopkeeper needs to make money to support himself financially. If Masako ate three meals a day for free, it would negatively impact the store's profit. Therefore, he worked a few hours everyday at the store and in return he was provided with the money to buy food as compensation. His job wasn't anything too hard, just restock the shelves and replace any rotten produce with fresh ones, as well as provide assistance to customers.

Words couldn't describe how grateful he was to the Old Man. The young raven-haired boy's stomach no longer sunk in or his ribs protruded, and his skin was now a healthy cream color. He even bought him a new outfit to replace the dirty rags he wore before. More importantly however, he was the first person to ever show Masako even a shred of compassion. Thanks to him, he no longer had to starve for days at the orphanage. He provided him with a place where he felt he was wanted and belonged in.

Masako finished up his breakfast, still bursting with energy. He was a blur restocking the shelves, completing the task in half the usual time it takes him. He awaited by the door, rapidly tapping his fingers on the wall and barely able to keep still. The hands on the clock seemed to slow to a crawl until his shift was up.

 _'He's going to be entering the academy soon, and to his misfortune it seems like the rest of Konoha's clan heirs and heiresses are entering too,'_ the Shopkeeper thought, _'If he doesn't receive any preparation at all, he'll be left dead last in his class.'_

Finally, Masako's shift ended and he exploded from the spot he was on the floor. He ran up to the counter where the Shopkeeper was currently counting the money in the register. "Jii-san, now can we go train?!"

The Shopkeeper glanced at the clock, seeing that it was past 4 o'clock. "I guess it's time then gaki. Go change out of your work clothes and meet me outside the store in five minutes."

Masako appeared to vanish in a blur as he picked up his small knapsack and ran into the bathroom to change. Meanwhile, the Shopkeeper put the money back into the cash register and locked it. He turned off the lights in the store before walking out the door, where he met up with Masako who was eagerly waiting outside. He was dressed in a navy blue t-shirt, which had the symbol of Konoha on the front, and black shorts. He locked the store behind him before turning to Masako.

"Before we begin, this training is going to be the hardest thing you've done in your life up until now. No matter if you feel like you're going to pass out from exhaustion, or think you can't move the next day from soreness, you cannot give up. This is the path that one must take to become a ninja. Do you think you're up to the challenge, Masako?"

He was a little surprised that the Old Man used his first name, as he normally just calls him 'gaki'. His shock passed quickly though as he imagined the gruesome pain he was in for. Despite that, he knew he had to do it. If he got strong enough, then his "family" would have to acknowledge his existence, wouldn't they?

His onyx eyes met the battle-hardened ones of the Shopkeeper, showing his steely resolve. "I'll do it."

-xX-Xx

(At The Training Grounds; Twenty Minutes Later)

The Old Man explained to him that before he had to be conditioned before they could begin combat training. He started off by instructing him to run twenty laps around the perimeter of the training ground. When he finished, he was already panting hard and had his hands on his knees.

"I didn't say you could rest yet! This is just the warmup gaki!" he yelled at him. "Now I want you to drop and give me twenty push-ups. As soon as your done with that, I want another 10 laps. Every time you slow down or stop, that'll be another lap added on!"

Masako gulped and quickly did his push-ups, before getting up and starting to run another ten laps around the perimeter. He didn't imagine that the Old Man would be this hard on him from the beginning. After the third lap, he felt like he was about to collapse. He started slowing down, forgetting his earlier resolve. His determination began to fade into just false bravado. Memories began running through his head. The looks disgust and scorn of his so-called family drilling holes into his head. Their eyes, red as blood, staring straight through his soul, as if they were taunting him. _You'll never achieve this power._

He felt a second wind as his resolve hardened beyond the point of the exhaustion he was feeling. _'Watch me.'_

He quickly completed the rest of the ten laps, his exhaustion no longer bothering him. The Old Man walked up to him, looking pleased that he didn't give in. "Now gaki, this is where the real workout begins."

"I'm ready for it Jii-san, show me your worst!"

"You're not quite ready for that yet." He chuckled. "What I have planned for today should be intense enough for your first day however."

The Shopkeeper walked back a few feet before turning around with his arms crossed over his chest. "Come at me with all you've got."

Masako was shocked at the request. He didn't think that he would be fighting the Old Man this quick. _'He shouldn't be too hard to beat, even if he was a shinobi. He's just a frail old man now.'_ He thought confidently, despite his instinct telling him that it wasn't going to be that easy.

He charged in at the Old Man, aiming a punch right in the middle of his face. At the last moment however, he tilted his head to the side and let Masako sail right past him.

"Too slow," the Shopkeeper said sternly with turning around. "Again."

Masako charged right back at him, launching a roundhouse kick only for the Shopkeeper to nonchalantly raise his left arm and block it without moving any other part of his body.

"Again."

Masako landed in a roll and tried another punch, only to be blocked again. He dropped down and attempted a low-sweep kick only for the Shopkeeper to jump over it.

"Again."

He jumped up and attempted to spin-kick him in the face, only for the Shopkeeper to grab his leg midair and use his momentum to throw him away from him.

"Again."

He tried to aim another punch at his face. _'Not this move again,'_ he thought as he tilted his head to the side and let Masako sail past him once again. This time however, it was different, as Masako recovered mid-air and spun to try to land a kick on him with his left foot. It was blocked yet again, however he noticed that he made the Shopkeeper use more speed on the block.

 _'He almost caught me offguard. I had to use a little bit more of my power than I intended to. Consider me impressed,'_ the Shopkeeper thought while casually dodging another punch. _'With enough training, this kid will become a monster.'_

Over and over he tried to land a hit on him, only for it to be dodged or blocked. He kept at it for over half an hour, to no avail.

"Aren't you going to hit back?" he said in between breaths. He was getting tired of how one-sided this fight would be. It wasn't nothing like how he thought it would have turned out in his head!

"Alright gaki, because you've impressed me today, I'll fight you using a tiny fraction of my power."

Feeling conflicted on whether or not to feel happy or insulted, he threw a quick punch only for the Old Man to raise his hand and catch it. This time however, he didn't let go. He tried to punch him with his other hand, only for it to be caught in his other hand. He tried to jump and kick the Shopkeeper with both feet to free himself, only for the Old Man to vanish and appear behind him. He quickly got up and launched a roundhouse kick, only for it to be swatted away as the Old Man moved with insane agility through each attack Masako tried to land on him. Finally, reading Masako's next attack, the Old Man dodged it and counterattacked, punching him in the gut, causing him to kneel over.

"Damn it Old Man! That really hurts," he said, trying his best to focus as his vision blurred, "I thought you said you were holding back!"

"I was gaki. Even a wet-nosed kid straight out of the academy could match the amount of strength I put into that punch." He stated, letting the reality of how far Masako had to go before being even considered a shinobi.

"It doesn't matter how long the path to reach my goal is Jii-san. I don't care if I have to go through hell and back, I will become a shinobi and be acknowledged by my clan!" he said as he punched his fist into the ground, making a tiny indentation in the dirt.

 _'The kid's got spunk. Taking into account the natural talent he possesses for combat, I estimate that he'll be at least twice- no three times as strong as he is currently by the time he starts going to the academy. It sure as hell won't be a cakewalk though, I'll make sure of it.'_ the Shopkeeper thought. "That wraps up your training for today, get a lot of rest for tomorrow. You're going to need it."

-xX-Xx-

A couple weeks passed since Masako began his training with the Shopkeeper. After spending the first two weeks doing rigorous physical conditioning, the Old Man finally decided he was ready to start practicing taijutsu. To the Shopkeeper's surprise, he had the basic katas down after only a few days of practicing them and moved onto the more advanced ones. Today, however, the Old Man told him that they were going to work on his ninjutsu. He drooled a bit thinking about the awesome jutsus that the Old Man was going to show him.

"Gaki, stop daydreaming and get back to work!" The Shopkeeper yelled, snapping Masako out of his daydream. Time seemed to slow to a standstill as he waited for his shift to be over so they could train.

After waiting an eternity, the clock finally struck 4 o'clock, signalling the end of his shift. When they finally reached the training ground, Masako couldn't hold in his excitement any longer.

"Jii-san, what awesome jutsu are you going to show me?! Is it the one where you vanished? Or is it going to be a giant fireball or some flashy explosion?!" He said, giddy with anticipation.

The Old Man picked up a leaf and outstretched his palm in Masako's direction, the leaf flat in the center of it. He closed his eyes and concentrated until his emitted a slight blue glow, making the leaf levitate above it.

"This is what your going to learn today. It's a chakra control exercise," he said. "Just relax and focus your chakra on the center of your palm and picture the leaf floating. Once you master that, try focusing on making the leaf spin. I'll leave you to figure how to do that."

Masako facefaulted. _'How the hell am I supposed to become an awesome ninja by making leaves float?!'_ he thought, picking himself off the ground.

"I'll see you tomorrow gaki," he called out to him while walking away

"Where the hell are you going Jii-san?! I thought you were going to train me today" Masako yelled back in irritation, causing the Old Man to chuckle.

"I'm going home. I already gave you all the instructions you need to know, the rest is up to you to figure out. Problem-solving is a necessary skill that all ninjas must possess." He stated nonchalantly before vanishing in a shunshin.

 _'That damn old geezer,'_ he thought angrily before picking up a leaf and placing it in the center of his palm. _'What did he do again? I remember him saying that I needed to focus on picturing the leaf floating, so might as well give that a try.'_

Masako closed his eyes and concentrated hard, picturing the leaf floating above his palm. To his disappointment, when he opened his eyes it appeared that the leaf hadn't moved at all. He concentrated hard once again on the image of the leaf floating, but to his frustration, the leaf was still stationary in his palm. He didn't know what he was doing wrong. He was doing everything that Jii-san had told him to do except...

"That's it!" he shouted in a moment of epiphany. "Instead of just picturing the leaf, I need to concentrate my chakra in my palm first. But how do I even concentrate chakra? Now that I think about, I don't even know what chakra is in the first place. When Jii-san showed me, his hand was covered in a blue glow when he made the leaf float. Maybe its some kind of energy, like the kind I use for running or doing exercise?"

He closed his eyes and put his hands in a hand seal position he'd seen the Old Man do before. He pictured blue energy focused in the center of his body until he felt a slight tug in his gut. He honed in on that feeling until he felt an incredible warmth spread throughout his body. He opened his eyes to see his entire body was covered by the same blue glow that the Old Man had during his demonstration, except much more wild and unstable.

'So this is chakra...' he thought in awe, 'this feeling is incredible...'

The blue glow died down quickly as the warmth left his body, leaving him feeling a bit drained. _'I know what I need to do now. I just have to concentrate that same feeling so that instead of my whole body, it's only in my hand.'_

He picked up the leaf once more and placed it in his hand before closing his eyes. He focused hard on feeling that same sensation he felt earlier, however this time only in his hand. He pictured that energy pushing the leaf above his hand and holding it there. Beads of sweat began trickling down his forehead as he stood there in deep concentration for a few minutes. Finally, he felt the same pull in his gut as the warmth he felt earlier flooded just his hand this time. He slowly opened his eyes to see that the leaf was just barely levitating over his hand.

"YATTA! I did it!" he shouted excitedly, losing his concentration and having the leaf fall down. "It's nowhere near as high as Jii-san's though. I still have a long way to go."

He picked up the leaf for another attempt, concentrating his chakra once more. However, the results were the same as before. _'This is a lot harder than I thought it would be when Jii-san first showed me it. I'm not going to give up!'_

 _-_ xX-Xx-

Masako was at it for nearly two hours already. He made considerable progress in how high he was able to float the leaf, being able to make it levitate twice as high as when he first did it. It still wasn't that high considering that he was barely able to make it levitate a centimeter the first time around. The Shopkeeper's one was at least 10 times higher than the height that he can achieve now.

 _'I guess I'll call it a day for now. I'm physically and mentally drained after being at it for this long,'_ Masako thought tiredly. _"I'll rest for a bit here before heading back to the orphanage."_

He found a nice sturdy tree nearby and passed out underneath it. When he awoke, he saw that the deep blue sky had transitioned to a a light orange and red.

 _'It's getting dark. I better head back, '_ he thought groggily as he stood up and walked out of the training grounds. As he was walking past the adjacent training grounds, he noticed something that sparked his interest. He stopped in his tracks and stood behind a tree near the open field of the training ground. He observed that it was a young boy, around his age. He was wearing a white shirt with a red swirl on the front with grey pants. He had a pair of green goggles around his forehead, as if he was wearing a forehead protector like shinobi wear. The two features about the boy that stuck out the most was his sun-kissed yellow hair and the three whisker-like marks he had on each cheek. He had never seen anyone else in Konoha with blond hair as bright as his. The blond-haired boy appeared to be training, but his methods were pretty unorthodox. He appeared to be trying to throw kunai at a target, shouting in frustration when each one missed.

As he followed the path of one of the kunai he threw with his eyes, he noticed something else. It was a young violet-haired girl with white eyes, quietly hiding behind tree, watching the blond-haired boy train. She suddenly looked in his direction, noticing him standing behind the tree. She turned wide-eyed before letting out a quiet "eep!" and running away.

 _'That was weird...'_ he thought, before quickly brushing it to the side. He decided that he was going to approach the blond-haired boy. He walked into the open clearing as the boy continued to try and hit the target with his kunai.

Masako noticed one that one of the kunai had landed nearby and picked it up. Upon his observation, the kunai was in very bad condition. Compared to the ones that Jii-san had showed him, these were dulled and rusted beyond belief and felt strangely heavy on one side. He tried to throw it in a straight line, only for it to go to the left.

 _'No wonder he keeps missing,'_ he thought.

"Damn it! Why do all my kunai keep missing? I'm sure that I'm throwing them good enough!" the blond-haired boy yelled in frustration after another one of his kunai badly missed the target.

"I can tell you why," Masako said, revealing his presence to the blond-haired boy, "These kunai are in terrible condition and they aren't even weighted properly. Where did you even get them from?"

"Who the hell are you?!" he shouted in surprise at Masako. "Why the hell do you care anyways?"

"My name's Masako, and you shouldn't say that when I'm just trying to help you." He replied.

"I never asked for your help, _baka_!" He shouted back at him, causing a tick mark to appear on Masako's forehead. "I'm going to become the Hokage and surpass everyone else y'know!"

"Uh... I never asked? Anyways you're definitely not going to beat the Hokage with the way you're training now. You probably couldn't even beat me!"

A tick mark appeared on the blond's head. "That's it! I'm taking you down!"

Masako got into a fighting stance as the blond-haired boy charged at him. He opened up with a straight-forward punch with his right hand, which Masako easily parried and responded with a leg sweep to knock him to the ground. He aimed a punch at the blond on the ground. "I'm ending this quickly!"

At the last moment, the blond rolled out of the way as Masako's fist impacted the ground where the boy was. The blond quickly got up as Masako recovered. This time, Masako charged in at full speed, turning into a jet-black blur. The blond barely had enough time to raise his arms to guard as the full power of the impact vibrated through the bones in his arms causing the blond to wince in pain. The blond however used the fact that he was wide open after that punch to grab a hold of Masako's arm with both hands, turning around and using all his strength to flip Masako over him.

"That really hurt, y'know!" The blond yelled as he slammed Masako into the ground with all his might, which made him groan in pain. He continued his assault as he jumped on top of the raven-haired boy and threw a punch, which Masako easily caught, responding with his own punch to the blonde's gut, knocking him off him. They both stood up and charged in, and cocked back a punch before launching it in each other's face, knocking the other down. Masako, however, was quicker to recover though and got on top of the blonde. He threw a punch at the blond's face, but stopped it an inch before it reached its target.

"I win." Masako said with a smile, making eye contact with the blond. What he saw in his eyes was a sight he was all too familiar with, and it shook him to his core. The feeling of longing for someone... anybody to acknowledge that they exist and that they deserve to be alive just like everybody else. The pain of loneliness...

"-off you weirdo!" Masako was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by the shouting of the blond he was still on top of.

"What?"

"I SAID GET OFF YOU WEIRDO!"

Realizing he still had the blond pinned underneath him, he quickly jumped off with a sheepish grin on his face. "Oh, sorry."

"You're pretty good, uh..." he suddenly remembered that the blond never told him his name. "Who are you?"

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to become the Hokage so everyone will acknowledge me!" the blond shouted passionately, as if he practiced saying this line everyday in front of the mirror.

 _'We both have similar dreams then... I want to be acknowledged by my clan and he wants to be acknowledged by the whole village. I guess that means that I wasn't just seeing things earlier when I looked him in the eyes.'_ Masako thought.

"We both have similar dreams. I want my clan to acknowledge that I'm strong enough to be one of them, instead of pretending like I don't exist." He explained to the blond.

Naruto felt a twinge of happiness well up inside of him when he heard that there was someone else who was like him, despite not showing it externally. _'So I'm not alone...'_

He was disrupted from his thoughts by his stomach erupting in hunger, causing Masako to snicker. His laughter suddenly changed to embarrassment though as his stomach did the same. Both boys looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.

"I could really go for some ramen right about now..." Naruto thought in bliss as he imagined the food of the gods, his mouth watering at the image. "I'm going to go to Ichiraku's, you can come if you want."

"Sure," Masako replied. The orphanage didn't really care what time he got back, or if he even came back at all anyways.

As they were leaving the training grounds, a question suddenly went off in Naruto's head. "Oh yeah Masako, you never told me what clan you're from!"

This question startled Masako, even though he shouldn't be surprised given that he never told Naruto his full name. _'I could tell him, but what if he reacts the same way everyone else reacts? Maybe he's like Jii-san and won't really care.'_ He contemplated, not wanting to lose his new friend already.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I don't-"

"I'm an Uchiha." Masako quickly stated, bracing himself for the worst.

"EHHHHHH?! Those temes?!" Okay, that wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"Yup, they abandoned me at birth though, so I live at the orphanage. They've all hated me for as long as I remember," he said.

"But you don't seem like you have a stick up your ass like they do, or do you?" Naruto thought as he had a stumped expression on his face. "Oh well, if you do have one I'll just beat it out of you!"

A sweatdropped formed on Masako's forehead. _'This was definitely not the reaction I thought he would have.'_

"Yo Naruto." he said, stopping in his tracks.

"Huh?" The blond turned around with a puzzled look on his face.

"Wanna be sparring partners? Then we can both get way stronger together!" Masako said excitedly.

"Sure! I'm going to beat you next time though y'know!" Naruto shouted back in enthusiasm, as both boys began conversing excitedly as they made their way to Ichiraku's.

-xX-Xx-

"Hey Naruto! How's my best customer doing?" The owner of the Ramen Stand greeted the blond as he walked in.

"I just worked up an appetite with all the hard training I did! I'll get the usual today, Old Man Teuchi," Naruto said with pride.

"Alright. Ayame, one Miso pork ramen!" He said to the young girl at the stove, before pointing at Masako. "What about you, young man?"

"Hmmm... I've never had ramen before, so I'll get what Naruto's having too." Masako said to the Old Man, causing Naruto to stare at him wide-eyed in disbelief. "Was it something I said?"

"How could you never have had ramen before?! It's the most delicious food in the world and was created by the gods..." Naruto said, going into a rant about his favorite food, causing a sweat drop to form on Masako's forehead.

"Here you go, two miso pork ramen. Enjoy!" Teuchi said as he placed the two bowls in front of the two boys.

"Thanks for the meal!" Naruto immediately stopped his rant and began devouring the noodles at an inhuman rate, causing the sweat drop on Masako's head to grow even bigger.

 _'How the hell can he eat it so quickly?'_ Masako deadpanned.

"Lemme get another bowl Jii-san!" the blond said as he placed his now empty ramen bowl back on the counter. "Oh hey Masako, you haven't even touched your ramen yet."

"That's because you took like five seconds to eat the entire bowl! I was too busy wondering how that's even possible!" Masako said. He split his wooden chopsticks before thanking the Old Man for the meal. He lifted the first noodle to his mouth, not knowing what to anticipate. Swallowing the noodle, his expression suddenly darkened as he let go of his chopsticks.

"Uh Masako, what happened? Don't you like it?" Naruto asked with a confused expression on his face.

"This is..." Masako muttered before beginning to devour the rest of his ramen, "amazing!"

"For a second I thought that you didn't like it, which is crazy. Who doesn't like ramen?!" Naruto stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world, causing Teuchi to chuckle.

"So kid, what's your name?" Teuchi asked Masako, trying to start up a conversation.

"My name's Masako Uchiha," he stated, looking a bit uncomfortable after mentioning his last name.

 _'Uchiha, huh go figure,'_ Teuchi thought before seeing the discomfort in Masako's face after mentioning his last name. "Who your clan is doesn't really matter to me, as long as you're a paying customer!"

The edges of Masako's mouth slightly curled upwards when he heard that. "Masako, do you have any plans of what you want to do in life?"

"I'm going to become the strongest shinobi ever! That way, my clan will have to acknowledge my existence!"

"Not if I become the strongest shinobi first!" Naruto butted in, causing Teuchi to laugh as the two boys began bickering like siblings.

 _'I'm sure I'm going to be hearing about those two a lot in a few years. Maybe they'll attract us tons more customers!'_ Teuchi thought, drifting off into a fantasy before quickly snapping out of it.

-xX-Xx-

(Fifteen Minutes Later)

"Ah...that was delicious Jii-san! Just put it on my tab." Naruto said as he patted his stomach in satisfaction. Masako reached for his wallet to pay before being stopped by Teuchi.

"Don't worry kid, it's on the house. Consider it a loan that you can repay later by attracting more customers to Ichiraku's when you make it big as a shinobi!" he said with a laugh.

"Arigatou gozaimasu!" Masako said before bowing, still feeling a little bad about not paying.

"Come back any time!" Teuchi shouted as the two young boys left.

"Will do, Old Man!" Masako called back, waving goodbye before noticing how dark it was. "I better start going before I get in trouble for coming back late."

"So, meet at the training grounds same time tomorrow?" Naruto asked the raven-haired boy.

"I have a better idea. Do you know where Yoshikiyo's Food Market is?""

"I've been there once or twice with my Ojiisan I think. The one around the Hokage's tower, right?" Naruto responded, trying hard to remember the location.

"Yup, that's the one!" Masako replied before taking off. "Meet me there at 4 tomorrow afternoon."

 _'Why does he want to meet up at a grocery store?'_ Naruto thought in confusion, scratching his head before heading off in the opposite direction.

"I'm home," the blond said to no one in particular, stepping inside his apartment and closing the door. He kicked off his sandals and fell back on his bed, stretching his arms out.

"Masako, huh..." he thought outloud. He finally had a friend. All the other kids he would try to play with his age would all sooner or later keep away from him. If they didn't stay away from him at first, you can be sure that their parents would come and pull them away upon taking notice of him. The adults were worse. All of them looked at him with resent and scorn. Whispers of "demon brat" were common as he walked past. Stores always kicked him out without explanation or tried to charge him ungodly prices for products. He was used to it though, he's been treated like that for as long as he could remember.

It was lonely though, seeing other children and their parents. Why couldn't he have that too? He's been alone since birth, growing up with practically everybody hating him. If it wasn't for the kindness shown to him by the Third Hokage and Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, he would've probably succumbed to the hatred by now.

-xX-Xx-

(Masako)

Masako was making his way back to the orphanage, walking down the moonlight illuminated path.

 _'That intense loneliness I saw in Naruto's eyes... just what has he been through in his life?'_ Masako thought sadly, wondering about his new friend. _'They reminded me of how I saw myself in the mirror everyday before I met Jii-san, except much worse.'_

 _'Me and him...we aren't so different,'_ they both thought simultaneously.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Please leave a review with any feedback you have! It is greatly appreciated. Next chapter will involve Masako and Naruto's training before the small timeskip.


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